Few More Hours
by Psionic108
Summary: What if- Minato had few more hours left to live after the process of sealing the Kyuubi into his son. This is the tale of such a what if. Supposed to be a rewrite for my first ever story, 'One More Day' but a lot of things keep changing as I keep on writing :p
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Beginning.**

 **This disclaimer shall apply to all the future chapters and this one. I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimito**

 **OoO**

Kurama was a misunderstood entity, the one who understood him was his father, the Rikudo Sennin, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and his son, Asura, came a close second. He hated humans because of all the hate they had in them. His father was a peace loving man, he wanted the humans to co-exist and live in harmony.

That is why he had judged his elder son, the one who had a hunger for more and more power, unfit to be his successor.

Kurama, who had ever so grown closer with Asura and had come to respect him for his ideals, approved of this decision.

Overcome by grief and hatred for when Asura had been killed by Indra, Kurama started distancing himself from the humans.

It would be centuries later after years of roaming freely would he be captured by Madara Uchiha in a powerful genjutsu.

After Madara's control over him was ended and the haze over his mind lifted, all he wanted was to go and become isolated from the world again but something stopped him. He was able to sense his friend once again, however faintly that might be.

Asura's spirit lived yet, it was in the form of Hashirama Senju, but all his dreams and hopes were squashed when Hashirama had said this, "Kyuubi! Your power is too great, regrettably I cannot let you run loose." and then proceeded to capture him with his Mokuton.

Kurama was then sealed by an Uzumaki, another descendant of his best friend. It was at that moment that he grew jaded and his hatred towards humans started festering.

After Mito Uzumaki's life neared its end, he was transferred to another host, Uzumaki Kushina.

He bided his time, to free himself so he would be free again and then exact his vengeance on the people who wronged him.

 **OoO**

The giant fox struggled against the golden chains that were holding him down. He could see his previous container straining to hold him down, sooner more than later he would be free from those accursed chains would be free.

On an altar in front of the bound fox was a baby barely out of the womb, He had blonde hair and three whisker marks on either side of his cheeks , his eyes were closed but would be blue as was his father's. The babe was crying, sensing the malevolent aura around him.

The Kyuubi realized what the Yondaime had planned, but no, he would not be held down again, he would not be contained, he swiped his claw intending to pierce the babe in the altar and free himself from another life of being imprisoned but the claw never reached the intended target…. he was shielded by his mother and father.

A visage of a demon appeared behind Minato, It had purplish skin and two red horns protruding from its forehead. It was garbed in white garment and had a tantō in its mouth. The entity was much bigger than Minato.

At Minato's behest, the Shinigami pierced a hand through Minato's chest and unsealed his tantō. The Yondaime said to his wife, "Kushina, I will seal the Kyuubi's Yang half into Naruto…" he gasped but willed himself through the pain, "Its Yin half into myself this will ensure that in future Naruto won't be influenced by Kyuubi's evil nature." He said through pinched breath

The Shinigami cut out a portion of Kyuubi's chakra and sealed it into Minato as seals appeared around its arms. Minato did another set of seals and called out" **Hakke no Fūin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)**." Kyuubi's form began to shrink and started to flow into the baby's stomach. A spiralling seal with Kanji written around it formed on Naruto's stomach. With that the sealing process was finished.

Minato had been ready to be sealed into the Shinigami's stomach, waiting for the embrace of death which never came. When he opened his eyes the Shinigami was still there, staring at him, unmoving. Just when Minato was about to act, an impossibly deep voice bellowed, " **Mortal, There is a perilous event happening in future and this child will play an important part in it. I in my utmost mercy will grant you this night to right the wrongs that would have happened if I took your soul right here and right now. Use this time wisely and I will be here to collect your soul on the morrow**." When the Shinigami disappeared, Minato's wounds disappeared as well.

When the Sandaime along with the ANBU appeared on the site, they found a silent Minato with a wailing Naruto and Kushina in his arms.

 **OoO**

Sarutobi was an old man, he had been through the three great Shinobi wars and had seen many deaths, but there was nothing like witnessing your loved one dying. He knew all too well how Minato must have felt….after all he had just heard of his wife's death as well. He put a comforting hand on Minato's shoulder and felt him tremble beneath his warm touch.

Minato held himself there for what seemed like hours. He stood up and turned around to meet Sandaime's soft gaze. The talk with Shinigami had left him with many doubts as to how the village would treat Naruto…'right the wrongs that would have happened if I took your soul right here right now.' The sentence struck a chord of doubt in his heart, he had meant for Naruto to be the considered a hero for holding back the Kyuubi but now he wasn't sure if the village would hold his faith.

"What I'm about to tell you should remain a secret between us Sandaime-dono" he whispered.

Hiruzen nodded.

"I've sealed half of Kyuubi into Naruto using **Hakke no Fūin Shiki** and the other half into myself using **Shiki Fūjin.** By all means I should be dead but the Shinigami has granted me a day to say my goodbyes."

"I want this to be a secret, the fact that Naruto is the jinchuriki of Kyuubi No Yoko shouldn't be known to anyone."

Sarutobi understood why Minato wanted this to be a secret, jinchurikis weren't always treated with positivity. People believed that jinchurikis were the demon reincarnate themselves and treated them badly. So he agreed to keep it a secret.

 **OoO**

Minato entered the Hokages office and sent an ANBU to summon Kakashi, Sandaime along with other Clan heads were present there. Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke few minutes later, and looked around in a bit of confusion. Then he saw the child in his Sensei's arms and somewhat understood the situation.

Minato explained as he held a crying Naruto in his arms.

"I've sealed the Kyuubi into myself and am destined to die tomorrow" he lied.

Murmurs went along the room where the Clan Heads seemed to grasp the severity of the situation.

"I'm naming my student Kakashi and my Sensei Jiraiya, protector of my legacy and they shall be so until Naruto comes of age."

"The fact that I am Naruto's parent and Kushina's identity should remain secret as there are many enemies that would want him dead just because of his connection to Me." he continued

Kakashi was surprised, he wasn't expecting this, and he thought that Sensei would name Sandaime the protector or Jiraiya-sama or Tsunade-Sama for that matter.

Many other clan members had same thoughts regarding this.

Tsume Inuzaka, the matriarch of Inuzaka clan protested "Yondaime sama, I know that Kakashi is your trusted student but he is still young, and he has his ANBU duties to take care of…As for Jiraiya Sama, he will be busy with his spy network. Are you sure they can take care of baby Naruto along with all that?"

Hiashi said "Minato, I agree with Tsume san, at least let me look after him, I am sure Hitomi and Hinata would give him the company he will need."

Minato nodded and said "Yes, which is why until Kakashi and or Jiraiya-sensei are available, I will be placing my son in the care of the Toads. There is a man out there, he extracted the Kyuubi out of Kushina." Minato paused a bit, still raw over his wife's death

"He unleashed the Kyuubi over our village and is the culprit. I'm placing Naruto in Fukasaku and Shima-samas care so that he will be safe there. I trust my sensei to know when to bring him to Konoha…..would you please look out for him when he returns? I would forever be in your debt." Minato skipped the part about the Sharingan that the masked man possessed.

"We would be happy to." answered Inoichi for all of them.

"Minato, Uchiha clan's doors will always be open to your kin." Fugaku said.

"I know old friend, I trust you to advice Sandaime-sama as you did when I was a Hokage." Minato said with a smile and hugged Fugaku.

After a few short words, he asked them all to excuse them except for Kakashi and Fugaku.

The clan heads nodded and shuffled out along with Sarutobi. He signalled the ANBU guards to leave as well.

"Kakashi…..our team was precious to me, I never told you guys this but I loved you all three like a family. People come and go but the bonds you create with them…they last as long as you keep them in your heart. The loss of Obito and Rin struck us both but with me being involved in war, I never got the time to talk about their loss with you…to comfort you…I'm sorry." Minato took a deep breath.

"But as my time is near, I would like to tell you this one thing, _Bad things do happen to us in life; we lose the people we love but how you respond to that defines your character and the quality of your life. You can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of the loss, or you can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift we have - life itself_."

Kakashi was silent through this, but his sensei's words seemed to strike a chord with him.

The man who was like a second father to him was about to die and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Kushina once told me that the key to countering the Kyuubi's rage was to fill one's self with love. In our absence, please look after Naruto. Love him like Kushina loved you, love him like your brother…..teach him what I taught you.

"I've placed a great burden upon Naruto's shoulders, it the burden of containing the malice and hatred of the fox."

"Bu-but sensei, you said that you sealed Kyuubi into yourself?!" Kakashi said.

"I lied, I wanted the village to know the truth about his burden, I wanted them to treat him like the Hero he is…but as much as I want to, I can't place my faith onto them.

"Many have died in this attack, people have lost their families…this event will breed hatred, and I'm afraid that that hatred would be projected onto Naruto. To save him from that childhood, I lied. This is a secret just between us three, Jiraiya-sensei and Sandaime-sama."

Minato wrote a letter to Jiraiya explaining asking him to meet with the Toads as soon as possible. He knew that his sensei was busy with a S Rank recon mission back in Kumo. He wrote another letter to Naruto that would be given to him when he was of age explaining who he was and why he had to do that and why his identity was kept a secret. He removed the photo from the frame on his desk.

It was a photo of a pregnant Kushina and Minato, both smiling. He put the picture in the envelope and pocketed the second later

After giving Kakashi the long overdue pep talk, Minato gave Kakashi a long hug after which he grabbed Fugaku, who had been silent throughout this and disappeared with his signature move.

 **OoO**

They reappeared at top of the Hokage Monument, they were silent for a few minutes, looking over at the destruction that the beast had left in its wake. Even at this moment, the Uchiha Police Force was helping the villagers with the search and rescue missions, Minato felt that he should be there, helping out his fellow villagers but there were grave matters that needed attending to first.

"I'll miss you, you know. I might not have many friends, might not be the most sociable person, might not be as good of a human as you are but know this Minato Namikaze, you are and would be my first and my dearest friend." Fugaku said stoically but he was tearing up on the inside.

Their friendship had grown out Fugaku's one sided rivalry with Minato. It was then that Minato had saved Fugaku's life that the seeds of their friendship had been sown.

"Fugaku, only Jiraiya-sensei, the Toads and the Sandaime will know about this. The man who extracted Kyuubi put the Biju under a powerful genjutsu…he did so with the help of the sharingan he possessed." Minato let that fact sink in.

"I suspect Madara Uchiha as the culprit…many people saw the spinning tomoe of sharingan in the eyes of the beast. This will surely spark of some rumours regarding your clan. We both know that Uchiha is one of the oldest and a prideful clan…but don't let your pride come between performing your duty to the village, this is my advice to you as your friend and not the Hokage that I was." Minato gave him his last bit of advice.

"Take care of my son, let him be friends with Sasuke-kun and give mine and Kushina's love to Mikoto." Minato asked of his best friend.

They stayed there in silence until little Naruto woke up. Bidding his farewell, Minato flashed away.

 **OoO**

He looked at her lifeless body, all the warmth that was her had faded away. He placed little Naruto near her and waited…..waited for the personification of death itself to take him away from this mortal world.

The ANBU had brought Kushina's body to the morgue, she was kept there to preserve her body for until their Hokage came back.

He hated this feeling, he felt so helpless to do anything, his wife had died by saving their son and soon….soon he would be with her.

He ordered the ANBU to guard her body as he took Naruto and flashed away to Mount Myoboku.

 **OoO**

Gamabunta was gulping down sake, regaling some younger toads of how he held down the Kyuubi for his favourite summoner when Minato appeared on top of his head with little Naruto in tow.

"Speak of the devil, eh?" Bunta said to the others.

"I assume you sealed the Kyuubi into someone?" Gamahiro, one of the smartest giant Toad asked.

"Yes-yes, I'll tell you all about that later….Bunta, where is Shima-sama?" he asked with an sense of urgency.

"Back at the house, why?!" Gamabunta asked, picking up at his summoner's distress.

"Thanks, come on, let's go." He said as he flashed Bunta and himself outside the Toad Lodge.

"What's' the matter Minato? Why are you in such a hurry?!" Bunta asked.

"My son, Naruto here is the new jinchuriki of Kyuubi no Yoko….I sealed it into him with **Shiki Fūjin** and used myself as the sacrifice…." Minato was saying as Shima came out sensing Minato's chakra.

"Ara, Minato-chan! Come in-come in. It's cold outside." The female elder toad beckoned them inside in a motherly fashion once she saw Naruto bundled in his arms.

"Would you like something to eat? Or drink perhaps?" Fukasaku asked unaware of the situation.

"No! Fukasaku-sama, Shima-sama…I've sealed Kyuubi into Naruto with the help of Shinigami-" Minato said.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Gamabunta bellowed.

"Calm down Bunta, Minato must've had a good reason for that." Fukasaku reprimanded Gamabunta.

"Yes, the Kyuubi was under the influence of a genjutsu casted by a masked man, he possessed a fully mature Sharingan." Minato said and let that sink in…

"That's impossible, only Madara Uchiha has been ever able to control the Kyuubi…" Gamabunta said.

"Which leads me to my suspicions…he might be Madara Uchiha. I marked him with my Hiraishin seal but he seems to be under the protection of a Triple-S barrier. I can't sense him anymore." Minato sighed….he was utterly exhausted. After fighting the masked man and sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto, he was left drained.

"The Shinigami spoke to me, he said that there is a perilous event that's going to happen in future and my son…Naruto is going to be at the centre of it….he gave me this night to as he said, 'right the wrongs that would've happened had he taken my soul at that instant'."

Fukasaku and Shima were silent, pondering over the situation when Minato spoke again, "The masked man might come back for the Kyuubi, so I'm entrusting in your care…until Jiraiya deems it fit to take him back to Konoha"

"We'd be happy to, we'd love having Naru-chan here. We'll treat him as our own." Shima said as she began cooing over the baby.

"Please tell what we've spoken about to sensei, I couldn't put the fact about the sharingan in the letter, I owe at least that much to Fugaku." Minato said thinking about his best friend, he hoped Naruto and little Sasuke could form a bond like that as well.

"It's almost morning, I'm leaving him in your care….I've sealed most of my chakra and a little bit of Kushina's chakra in the seal. Now let me be with my wife." Minato parted with the Toads, leaving a last kiss on Naruto's forehead.

 **OoO**

Death was an aspect of the Eternal Godhead, and as the Eternal Consciousness was omnipresent and omniscient, so was it.

In this world, death was personified as a two horned entity that fit in with the culture of this world nicely, Shinigami it was called.

The perks of being omnipresent and omniscient was that you were everywhere and knew everything at the same time…..actually that's what being those two things meant. Anyways, back to the point, the Shinigami knew that the future had changed when the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Kyuubi into his child.

The future that he saw made it impossible for it to carry out his deed, there would be no souls left to lead if that future came to be because every living creature would become synthetic and would lose their souls to someone else.

A soul had tremendous power, and one with that many souls would be able to technically attain godhood. They would have power over this world's reality…sure they wouldn't be able to move past this world's boundaries but this world would be lost forever.

It was not allowed, to meddle with the fate of one world but the Shinigami was bind by a human contract, death would take one sacrifice and in return would seal the other entity for the contracted human. It was just bending the rules a bit that allowed the Shinigami to set the world on a different course of fate.

 **OoO**

It was time, time to collect its sacrifice. The sun was peaking over the horizon casting its golden hue on the Mountain of the Toads. The Shinigami looked at the one who had contracted him, bidding his friends and family one last good bye.

He looked at the prophesized child, sun kissed blonde hair…just like his father's, amethyst colored eyes that belonged to his mother and three whiskered marks on each cheek, courtesy of the most powerful Biju in existence.

Willing himself into a semi-corporal form, the Shinigami placed his hand over the Fourth Hokage's shoulder.

Coldness seeped through the Yondaime as his body came into contact with the embodiment of death itself.

Taking in the view of his son's future family, Minato passed away with a bitter-sweet smile on his face.

 **OoO**

 **That's it boys and girls, this is the first rewritten chapter of my first story 'One More Day' which has been renamed as 'Few More Hours'.**

 **Kindly Read and leave me lots of reviews but please, mention stuff that I need to improve upon in the reviews.**

 **I hope you people have a great day :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**OoO**

It had been a few days since Minato had passed away and in its wake lay discord and disharmony….well that might've also been because of you know, the rampaging giant Fox but whatever.

Anyways, back to the point, a plebiscite was being held in the council room of the Daimyō of Hi no Kuni.

The Daimyō was a fickle man, he could be swayed by a strong enough idea which was not quite good considering he was to appoint the next hokage of Konohagakure no Sato.

There was a heated debate going on in the room between the finance minister and the chief minister of the Daimyō.

Shikaku Nara, The ANBU division commander and the three elders along with the Sandaime were present on one side of the table to represent the village. The Finance minister, the Head of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas who was represented by Chiriku, the Chief Minister and some other ambiguous ministers.

"-which is why Shimura Danzo should be made Hokage."

"But Sarutobi-sama has led this village to glory through Second and the Third War. He helped make the Sannin what they are today and his student Jiraiya-sama helped create the Konoha's Yellow Flash who was a big factor in why we won the Third War. Don't you see? Sarutobi-sama is the best bet we have at staving off a potential attack on Hi no Kuni! " the finance minister said to which almost all agreed.

"Aye, I hereby appoint Sarutobi-dono as the successor to Namikaze-dono, may Kami rest his soul." Daimyō said as he waved a fan over his face.

The Chief Minister was left a spluttering mess as well as red-faced.

"Now Hokage-dono, what is the status of our shinobi force? How much damage has the rampaging of the beast caused?" the Daimyō asked, fanning himself.

"Daimyō-dono, our shinobi force is relatively stable and the death toll has been less than fifty with many wounded, thanks to the Yondaime who transported the Kyuubi out of village territory and into the forest surrounding it. That one act saved the lives of hundreds if not thousands." Sarutobi responded.

"Good, I trust you to handle the rest of it, we don't want war when we've just achieved peace." The Daimyō said.

"Daimyō-sama, one more thing to be added, Namikaze-dono's wife gave birth to a son on the day of the Kyuubi's rampage. He entrusted the care of his child to the Toads of Mount Myoboku and the clans of Konoha. His last wish was that the existence of his son would be kept a secret lest assassins be sent after him." The Hokage finished, the Daimyō had to know that Naruto was alive, he couldn't keep that secret from his country's leader.

"My-My, Kushina-san gave birth?! That's good news, the Uzumaki line lives on in the village. Did Namikaze-dono leave any guardians appointed to him?" Daimyō seemed excited at the prospect of one of his favorite Hokage's line having lived on.

"Yes, he did. Jiraiya of the Sannin is his Godfather but he also asked Kakashi of the Sharingan to look after him as well. Kakashi was his only surviving student." Shikaku spoke.

"Good, he's in fine hands then. I look forward to seeing his escapades." The Daimyō laughed a mirthful laughter.

"This council is adjourned now, I'll expect reports from you Hokage-dono about the status of the village." Th Daimyō said in a commanding manner.

 **OoO**

 **(Eleven Years Later)**

The forests surrounding Konoha were said to be created by the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju with his Wood Release powers. These forest gave the village it's moniker of Village Hidden in Leaves.

And right now, walking between these trees was a pair of Godson and Godfather.

"How much longer Raiya?!" the boy asked his Godfather.

Jiraiya looked at his Godson with longing in his eyes, he was so much like his father and yet when emotions got the better of him or he was excited, he could act so similar to his mother that it was frightening.

It seemed that he had also inherited her verbal tick, Dattebayo he says.

The majestic gates of Konoha were in sight and Naruto could barely hold in his excitement.

Eleven years, for Eleven years he had dreamed of this place…well make that nine years as he had yet to know about this place.

He had lived with the toads for eleven years, for the first three years, he thought he was a toad as well, just a different looking toad but then Raiya had come to visit him.

He said that he had visited him countless time before….which might have been true because he never seemed to remember his first three years of life. He only remembered bits and piece of it, which was not so much.

Year five brought his Kaka-nii to meet him and in year eight figured out his dad's identity.

Life on Myobokuzan was peaceful and perfect, he was taught etiquette by Ma and politics by Pa. A foreign taijutsu style by Gamashao-sensei. They weren't just preparing him for the academy, they were preparing him for the world. Even though the life was perfect…he thought it lacked something…which meant it was not as perfect as he used to think.

He had only ever met two humans, Jiraiya-jiji and Kakashi-nii

So when he got to know that he would be going to Konoha Ninja Academy to complete his final year there, he had been excited, so excited that he hadn't slept the day before they left on their month long journey.

They entered through the gates and were greeted with the sight of two chunin guards' playing cards while eating snacks

The first one to spot Jiraiya, Izumo broke out of his stupor and started pointing at them.

"Ha! You think you can fool me with that again? You just want to take a peek at my cards don't you?" the other chunin, Kotetsu said before folding his cards.

"Jiraiya-sama!" Izumo finally blurted out.

"Yeah…..no" Kotetsu said as he reached for his snack when someone coughed behind him.

"Rijaya-sama! I me-mean Jiraiya-sama! What are you doing here?!" Kotetsu said through this surprise.

"Here to report to Hokage, also brought someone Hokage wanted to see." Jiraiya said, bringing attention towards Naruto.

He greeted the chunins, "Nice to meet you, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki! Hey-hey Izumo, do you think that he's-he is her son?" Kotetsu whispered to his partner.

"Shhh! Not now Kotetsu" Izumo shushed his friend.

Handing them a very important looking scroll, Jiraiya started walking ahead, he didn't even wait for them to open the scroll.

Naruto followed after him in awe, his godfather was so cool!

Naruto took everything in as he walked the streets of Konoha, the hustle and bustle of the village, so many people in a single place had him in awe.

Jiraiya led them into a bulky red tower in front of the Hokage Monument. They climbed three flights of stairs and walked through a winding hallway before they reached a room with broad oak doors, the doors shone as if they had just been polished.

As soon as they passed through the rooms, the smell of tobacco hit Naruto's nostrils and he knew that it was tobacco for the fact that he and Gamakichi had tried to smoke a pipe once, to look cool like Gamabunta. The horrendous coughs that had followed didn't help them much in looking cool.

The Hokage was sitting behind his desk, smoking a pipe and looking cool. Gods! What was with pipes that made people look cool? Naruto wondered but he forgot all about it as the room seemed to fall silent.

The Hokage regarded Naruto with an appraising look before his eyes crinkled up in a honest smile.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, you've grown up! It feels just like yesterday that I saw you. How have you been?" He said to Naruto tenderly.

Naruto was silent for his part, he was in presence of The Professor, the God of Shinobi, the Hokage for God's sake. The question went over his head as he was basking in the warm yet powerful chakra of the man before him.

"Ruto! Answer the old man." Jiraiya prodded him from the side.

"Uh…could you repeat that please?" Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "I was in a zone….your chakra felt nice."

"Ah! A sensor." Sarutobi said in silent awe, this was not in Jiraiya's reports.

"You both are just in time, final year of academy starts two days from now. Perfect time to get him enrolled isn't it?" Sarutobi pointed out.

Naruto looked excited and nervous and the academy hadn't even started yet!

He kept looking out the window, wanting to explore the huge village. Seeing him practically bounce on his feet, Sarutobi said, "You can go see the village Naruto-kun, I just have to talk to Jiraiya about some other matters." At being given the permission to officially start his adventure by the Hokage, Naruto practically jumped in joy. He looked to his Godfather and when he got the nod, he walked outside, giddy with excitement.

Normally he wasn't like this, he was calm and collected but this was his first venture outside of Mount Myobokuzan. He had practiced for this day ever since he had been told that at some point in life he would have to live with other humans.

But exploring could wait, he first had to pay his respect to his parents. So he started walking towards the grave remembering the first time he was told about his parents.

 ***FLASHBACK***

 _Eight year Naruto was a smart boy, he had finally signed the toad contract and he couldn't help but beam in pride at the fact that he had signed the same contract as the fabled Yondaime._

 _He had grown up hearing the tales of his personal legend, Minato Namikaze. The story of how he had gone toe to toe with the Hachibi jinchuriki and the now-Yondaime Raikage to how he had defeated Kyuubi no Yoko with the help of Bunta (that only made Bunta even cooler!)._

 _But somethings kept bugging him, like why he was the only non-toad to live on Mount Myoboku or why Kakashi-nii came to visit him?_

 _He had slowly started piecing together the truth but it wasn't until he signed the Toad Contract did it all make sense._

 _Kakashi had once told him during a story how he was Yondaime's student. Also wasn't Jiraiya-jiji Yondaime's sensei?_

 _Why were two people who were close to the Yondaime looking after him? Why would the toads, Yondaime's summons care after him? After bringing all those things together in one picture, the answer seemed simple. He was a direct relative of the Yondaime, which was the only seeming answer to his little mind._

 _So one day Naruto, when Jiraiya had come to visit him, he asked him a blunt question directly, "Raiya-jiji, Was the Yondaime my father?"_

 _Jiraiya for his part didn't sputter or act surprised…that would've been too clichéd. He was a spymaster, he knew how to handle these situations and handle he did._

" _I'll respond with my own question, what brought you to this conclusion?" And so Naruto had told him about his deductions and Jiraiya inwardly whistled, 'Damn Minato, your boy is something else.'_

 _So Jiraiya had told Naruto about his Father, and his mother and the Kyuubi…though the Kyuubi part wouldn't be for a while later though._

 ***FLASHBACK END***

Naruto didn't know what to feel about his parents, though he thought it was awesome that his father was the fabled Yondaime, he didn't know what to feel about them from the bottom of the heart.

He had never felt the loss of his parents like the other orphans might, he had a loving family…even though most of them were toads the fact that he had forged some strong emotional bonds with them was undeniable.

Undeniably, a warm feeling would encompass him whenever he heard stories of how his parents had loved him and all the things they had planned for when he would've been born.

He sort of resented Kyuubi for what might have been, but Kyuubi had been under another man's control so maybe the Kyuubi wasn't at fault either. The hate came and went away, it never festered because Naruto was surrounded by people he loved and those people loved him back.

He was drifting through village at a sedate speed, step by step making his way to the Memorial Stone.

He spotted a Flower Shop in the less populated area of the village which was coincidentally also near the Memorial Stone.

He thought of getting some flowers for them, maybe as an offering for bringing him into this world…..yeah maybe he should get some flowers.

As he opened the door to the shop, the bell above the door chimed from the motion. A blue eyed, blonde girl looked up from the magazine at the sound.

"Welcome to Yamanaka's Flower Shop, how can I help you?!" she said with a synthetic cheer in her voice.

"Uh...I'm here to buy flowers for my parents-" he didn't even finish the sentence before the girl's eyes twinkled with an unreal gleam.

"Ah! Is it there anniversary?!" she asked with hearts beating in her eyes.

"No" Naruto said with a sullen look. Explaining to someone that his parents were dead was harder than he thought. There was a psychic ache in his chest as he said, "it's for their gravestone."

"Oh…." Ino said as she measured the awkwardness of the situation, "I'm sorry!" she quickly added.

"No-no, it's alright. I probably shouldn't have led with that sentence. You don't need to apologize." Naruto said with a sad but a genuine smile.

"Here, let me help you with the flowers." She said as she led him deeper in the shop.

"A chrysanthemum surrounded by pink carnations. They symbolize your grief and remembrance of your parents." She said.

"Oh" was all Naruto said.

She led him back to the counter and arranged the flowers in a bouquet.

"The bouquet is on the house." She said as she handed him the bouquet with a cheerful smile.

"Oh." Was all Naruto said as he exited the shop in a….daze?

 **OoO**

Placing the bouquet in front of the stone, Naruto said a quick prayer for his parents' departed souls.

He stood there for a few minutes in silence, just standing. He didn't know what to say, from what he had heard, his parents had loved him even if they only knew him for a short time but he couldn't say the feeling was mutual. He knew that deep down he should feel something, some form of sadness at being here but he didn't.

For him, his parents were the Elder Toads and Jiraiya being a stern yet loving grandfather, and the other Toads and Kakashi being an extended family that he loved from his heart and wanted to protect but that didn't mean that he hated his real parents. They weren't just there for him to feel anything towards them.

Maybe if he had being raised by them as the toads had raised him, he was sure that he would've loved them just like he did Ma and Pa. So he stood there and said thank you, thank you for creating him, thank you for bringing him into the world, thank you for giving him the chance to meet his current family.

After being there and expressing his gratitude, he turned around and walked towards the village, never once looking back.

 **OoO**

 **Hokage Tower**

"So Jiraiya, you never told me he was a sensor….any reason why?" Sarutobi asked as he inhaled from his pipe.

"His sensing abilities started surfacing only two months back, I thought that I might as well report it to you when we meet in person." he said nonchalantly.

"Ah, alright then. I've rented a place for both of you in the Shinobi quarters. It's a spacious two bedroom apartment, I hope that it will meet both your expectations." Sarutobi said changing the subject.

"Oh nonononono! I see what you're doing, first it's me living in the village and then next thing I know, you will be placing that hat on me. I know all your schemes Old Man, I'm smart like that." Jiraiya said motioning with his hands in denial.

"Jiraiya-kun, I'm not trying to do anything of that sorts, I'm just looking after Naruto-kun. He can't very well live with Kakashi as he's on missions and he isn't used to living alone. Would you let the poor boy fend for himself?" Sarutobi asked guilt tripping his student.

"Well when you put it that way, I will stay till he graduates but I expect missions and not those C-rank missions I'll tell you. I still need to maintain my Spy ring and need to do research, can't have the Great Jiraiya-sama being tied down to one place now, can we? I'll admit him into the academy today and then go do my research!" Jiraiya said as he exited the room….this man had his priorities straight, that was for sure

Only Sarutobi was left in the room, as he exhaled the smoke, one thought came to his mind. _I won't let you down Minato._

 **OoO**

It was evening and Naruto was now scoping out the places where he would be spending his life for a considerable time. He was near the grounds behind the academy when he heard the telltale sound of shurikens hitting the trees.

Curious to see as to who would be practicing at this time of the evening, Naruto made his way to the clearing.

There, a boy just about his age was practicing his shurikenjutsu. Naruto kept watching for a few minutes as the boy hit bull's yes eight out of ten times. _This guy's gooooood!_ He thought.

"You can come out now, I know you've been watching." The boy said loudly in a monotone voice for Naruto to hear.

So he came out of the shadows and into the light of the setting sun. The boy wore the crest of Uchiha clan on his back, he had coal black eyes which to Naruto seemed like could look into one's soul.

"I was just scoping out the academy when I heard you practicing your shurikenjutsu, so I stayed and watched. You're really good at it to be honest." Naruto pointed out.

"Oh, thanks. I'm not as good as my nii-san to be honest." The boy said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Uchiha Sasuke." The boy said, offering his hand to Naruto.

Naruto was a bit unsure of what to do, he had never met a human before but when he saw the look of hurt on the boy's face, he shook the boy's hand with fervor.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Pleased to meet you!"

 **OoO**

 **There are some changes in this version of story, you'll see it as we move forward. For one, Sasuke is not a douchebag, he hasn't been affected by the curse of hatred….yet.**

 **Please read and review and I hope you guys have a great day :)**


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